Garonnin
Lord Garonnin, also known as Darth Sanguinis was a Senex Lord during the Galactic Empire, and claimed the title of Dark Lord of the Sith during the Shattered Galaxy Crisis. His ultimate defeat was six years after this episode, at the hands of Irek Ismaren, his latest Sith apprentice. Origins Lord Garonnin was born to wealth, a member of the aristocracy, having inherited the slave mines on Karfeddion from his family. He quickly took advantage of the new court of the Emperor, proceeding to amass more power within the Empire, negotiating the deployment of only a small Imperial task force to the sector. His Force sensitivity allowed him to assume a position within the Emperor's Secret Order, and slowly accumulate minor Force powers. Garonnin was never particularly enthused with the concept of being a Force user, but had no intention of being surpassed by the other Lords and other dark side adepts - and power would not be turned down by him. Lord Garonnin was only yanked into the central spotlight during the rampage of the Neo-Imperial group known as the Emperors Knights, who struck at Kuat Drive Yards while his private yacht was moored there, resulting in its destruction. Lobbying the Senate to capture the group and execute them. Garonnin returned to his quiet background, increasing his political links within the Dark Jedi Order. Endor and Opportunities The death of the Emperor and Lord Vader at the Battle of Endor offered a tremendous opportunity for Garonnin. Suddenly the Secret Order's membership was culled, the majority of the Prophets of the Dark Side abandoning the Empire, and several Inquisitors joining the Pentastar Alignment as 'InQuestors'. The Emperor's Hands each became notoriously unreliable, and Garonnin watched the whole body flail for life. With the political ranks of the Empire cut into by the rise of Ysanne Isard, Garonnin noted that Lumiya staked her claim to being Vader's successor via her training on Ziost. With her untimely demise, Garonnin began focusing research on Korriban, sponsoring several archaeological digs with his massive fortune, all the while maneuvering himself to the centre of the Secret Order where possible. While the remaining Prophets of the Dark Side pulled themselves around the Shadowspawn and then the fake Prophets, weakening their political strength until they were shadow of themselves under the new Supreme Prophet Garen Kya, Garonnin gained esteem within the Inquisitors, rapidly rising within the ranks and holding back the Inquisitors political force until the ideal moment. Darth Sanguinis That moment revealed itself when Lord Shadowspawn returned, launching a campaign of terror across the Inner Rim which returned the majority of it to the Empire. Garonnin rallied the Inquisitors, directing them to recapture Rebel worlds that were cut off in the Core and Colonies, reclaiming key worlds such as Fondor, Brentaal and Commenor alongside the Imperial fleet. While the Prophets did the same thing at Recopia, their successes weren't as great as Garonnin's, who found himself to be a grand architect of strategy. The soap-bubble inevitably burst with the Battle of Mindor, which abruptly shattered the offensive. Iceheart quickly sought to reestablish her prominence, and Garonnin fought her in the Court, even as the Imperial Senate was recreated by the Empire to organise the disparate limbs of the rebalanced - but still reduced - regime. The Senate began taking power from the Inquisitors, removing a task force Garonnin had placed above Korriban to defend Kuat, even as he directed the Inquisitors to defend Byss from the depredations of Warlord Delvardus. When Garonnin sought to follow a lead to Dantooine and kill Luke Skywalker, and the Senate obfuscated, Garonnin grew more aggressive, railing against the Senate. Garonnin had a windfall in discovering the second tomb of Marka Ragnos, which had concealed itself for centuries prior, and gaining access to a treasure trove of artifacts, including the Scepter of Ragnos and other artifacts. With these, Garonnin grew more aggressive, weaving the Inquisitors and Prophets into a Sith Order, seceding from the Empire, taking key worlds such as Byss, Taspir III and Korriban with him, declaring himself Darth Sanguinis, a title no existing darksider could dispute, with his access to Sith artifacts unparalleled. Darth Sanguinis demanded the Senate name him Emperor, and accept his rule. Shattered Galaxy The Chancellor, friendly to Iceheart, prodded the Senate into creating the Imperial Knights, a counter group that attracted a few ex-Jedi and other Force users from exile to assist the re-establishment of democracy - and it looked as if the Empire was about to recreate itself as a Republic. Skirmishes near Eriadu began to break out, and the situation grew even more tense as the Rebel Fleet vanished from sight. The Supreme Prophet wove a network of alliances with warlords in the Outer Rim and Deep Core, bringing the InQuestors back to the Sith Empire, but began to chew at support for the Sith by inviting Delvardus into the Sith Empire. Issues came to a head when Iaius won the Third Battle of Endor two months after the Battle of Mindor, crushing the Rebel Alliance and taking captive Mon Mothma and Ackbar. Iaius was one of the Emperor's experiments - a light side militant, and an Imperial Senator at that. Iaius was made Emperor by proclamation of the people, the Senate blessing him and the Imperial Knights declaring him their honour guard. Old Rebel worlds began to fear for themselves, and Darth Sanguinis directed the clone of Declann to capture Ryloth in an early victory over the Rebel states. The Rebellion seemed over, and swathes of worlds seemed poised to run to the Empire's arms. Imperial intrigues thanks to a now-irrelevant Isard nearly saw Sanguinis net the allegiance of Bothawui, but her escapades had a side-effect of causing the Rebel worlds to unify around Princess Leia, who herself began erecting a Jedi Order to oppose the Sith and Imperial Knights. Loss Darth Sanguinis quickly lost control of his leviathan, however, Garen Kya anointing himself Darth Rem and erecting a new Sith Navy, winning several victories against the Empire and Alliance. The Sith were slipping away from Sanguinis, who was himself distracted by a bout of dark side madness - madness that Darth Rem was indulging. When it all fell apart, Darth Rem fled, and the Sith Empire collapsed. The Empire reverted to a stewardship under Iceheart, and the Rebellion secured the majority of its lost systems relatively quickly - Darth Rem having killed the Emperor in a bout of madness. Sanguinis' last act was a quick looting of Korriban, encountering Darth Rem, who by now was so far gone that it was pathetic. Sanguinis resisted the urge to slaughter the fool, knowing full well that Rem represented the ideal tool to finish off the pursuing Imperial Knights. Rem did, however, surprise Sanguinis by handing him two Sith Holocrons - those of Darth Millennial and Gorog, two ancient Sith Lords. Rem died, and Sanguinis took his remaining acolytes and all the artifacts he could carry back to the Senex sector. Aftermath Sanguinis slowly recovered from his temporary insanity, but rapidly found that, despite having taken the claim of 'Dark Lord', that the Sith Holocrons refused to teach him. He'd not received any formal Sith training, and it was doubted by Millennial and Gorog that he would achieve anything in his life. Determined to prove them wrong, Sanguinis dispatched more archaeological surveys on other worlds throughout the galaxy, searching for more cooperative Sith heirlooms. As they sat in the shadows, the Sith Order began to deteriorate, Garonnin presiding other their demise. Plots and Plans His 'Darth Sanguinis' moniker was discarded, and Lord Garonnin returned to the galaxy at large. Much of the Imperial Senate had been purged by Iceheart, none too interested in the experiment in renewed democracy. Lord Garonnin had more freedom than any 'Darth', but Garonnin gladly aligned himself with the reborn Emperor, but, upon encountering Scarev Quest and his son, Irek Ismaren, Garonnin became embroiled in a scheme to poison the Emperor, linking himself to Carnor Jax and Lumiya. Garonnin took Irek as his Sith apprentice, and inducted Quest and Rogana Ismaren, hooking up with Lord Cronal. The various darksiders began to make solid efforts to reestablish the Sith Order. Garonnin began amassing more of his Sith on Byss, all the time accepting his position as a Dark Jedi within the reborn Emperor's system. The subsequent destruction of Byss stung Garonnin, severely fracturing the order, but he pressed on with his schemes, as the Emperor was dead and they had a strong position in the new Empire. Not content with sharing power with the Imperial Ruling Council during the interregnum, Quest and Garonnin began scheming to create a counter to Lumiya and Carnor Jax. Quest would unveil his son, having perpetuated the rumour that he was the Emperor's offspring. Irek, being modified by Lord Cronal, would make use of the abandoned Eye of Palpatine to create a reunified Empire, counter to the Ruling Council and Lumiya. Carnor Jax's sudden death saw the Council move against Quest and he vanished from notice. Garonnin and Roganda didn't care. They continued assembling support for Irek, and Garonnin, always justifying his massive expenditure with one more effort, with one more success, closed on his ultimate victory. Gathering the Senex Lords, the heads of SoroSuub, Sienar and representatives from Warlord Harrsk, Garonnin was mired in his scheme, a more complex and interlinked plan than he'd ever created. His Sith allies in the Senex grew tired, and others grew more stalwart in their support for him, splitting the order down the middle. Demise The only issue seemed to be Irek, himself sporting the title of 'Lord' and growing more powerful in the Force daily. Having long been trained by his mother during the reign of Palpatine, his power had only been augmented by Garonnin's few lessons - the boy was more powerful than even Garonnin, who himself was going to greater lengths to keep Irek on a leash, disapproving of him and his mother hourly, it sometimes felt to him. As the Dark Lord immersed himself into the scheme Garonnin shunned his role as a Sith more and more, making it easier to convince the Senex Lords and other parties to support the new regime - filling it with darksiders would not gain them allies. Garonnin even went far enough to leave his lightsaber behind when he went on missions, and, when the plan came together on Belsavis, he was armed with a simple stun-gun. More than enough to deal with Leia, who he ended up face-to-face with during a twist in the plan, but not nearly enough to deal with Irek when it became evident that Irek couldn't control the Eye - Irek cut down Lord Garonnin with one slice - from right shoulder to left hip. Darth Sanguinis was no more. Legacy Darth Sanguinis left little legacy that anyone would claim to be from. His Sith Order, split bodily between loyalists and rebels, was so divided that it handed power to Darth Vassago not long after Darth Sanguinis' death, and proceeded to remain split, even under the new Dark Lord. Darth Vassago himself never referred to Sanguinis. It wasn't long after the death of Sanguinis that Vassago himself was deposed, and the Sith Order proceeded to go through internal scuffles until, finally, one of Darth Sanguinis' expeditions paid off, discovering Rakata Prime and an undiscovered Sith Temple - complete with the Sith Holocrons of Ajunta Pall and Darth Voren. These Sith Holocrons consented to teach the 'Dark Jedi' sufficiently to be considered Sith by even Gorog and Millennial, and the Order grew strong, reborn as a Dominion of Darkness...